Reuters reported on November 12, 2026, that House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast expects former NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to testify before Congress within a week, after congressional staff contacted the chipmaker’s team.
Mast told reporters that staff spoke with NVIDIA’s team on the night of November 11, 2026. His comments provide an expected window for an appearance, while the formal request already sent to Huang concerns a joint, closed-door briefing rather than a public hearing.
Three Committees Requested a Closed-Door Briefing
The Foreign Affairs Committee released the request on November 5, 2026. Mast signed the November 4, 2026, letter with House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, bringing three panels into the proposed session.
The letter proposed November 18, 2026, for the briefing. It asked Huang to accept that date or provide an alternative falling on a congressional session day by November 11. Mast’s new expectation does not establish that November 18 has been finalized as the appearance date.
The requested subjects are NVIDIA’s security protocols against foreign adversary espionage and Huang’s interactions with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, whom the chairmen described as a publicly reported People’s Republic of China (PRC) intelligence asset. The letter also identifies PRC infiltration and access to cutting-edge U.S. technology as central to the three committees’ investigative work.
The chairmen connected those subjects to a broader national-security inquiry, writing, “It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which U.S. national security has been placed at risk.” Huang’s interactions are therefore one part of a requested examination that also covers NVIDIA’s safeguards and the possibility of foreign access to sensitive technology and information.
NVIDIA Announced Huang’s Resignation
The testimony development came as NVIDIA announced on November 12, 2026 that Huang had resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately. Colette Kress agreed to serve as interim CEO while continuing as executive vice president and CFO. The board initiated a search for a permanent chief executive and said it would consider internal and external candidates.
Export Controls Frame the Testimony
House Speaker Mike Johnson separately told reporters on November 12 that he supports limiting semiconductor exports to China and sees a developing congressional consensus behind that position. Johnson said recent developments could change some lawmakers’ minds.
Moolenaar took a more specific legislative position in a November 12 statement, urging Congress to pass bipartisan export-control legislation in the year-end national defense bill. He also called on NVIDIA to change its corporate practices and appoint leadership that prioritizes national security. American AI companies, he said, should not jeopardize national security by giving Chinese companies access to their most advanced chips.
These positions place the expected briefing within two connected congressional inquiries: the committees’ examination of NVIDIA’s security practices and Huang’s interactions, and the wider debate over whether advanced AI-chip exports should face additional legislative restrictions.
For the committees, the immediate step is settling the timing and format of Huang’s appearance and obtaining his account of the safeguards and interactions described in their letter. For Congress more broadly, the larger question is whether the concerns driving that inquiry produce export-control provisions in the year-end defense bill.
Credit: Source link
